Google’s Hands Free app allows users to pay for goods using their voice

Google releases a new payment App dubbed Hands Free which allows people pay for items in stores by simply telling the cashier, “I’ll pay with Google.”

The app will relieve users the hassle of removing your wallet from the pocket. You just walk in a shop and shout, “I’ll pay with Google,” afterwards; you walk out with your bread or a device of you choice. Crazy right?

However, don’t be exited just yet. The app is still on its pilot stage and Google is testing it in the San Francisco area, including some McDonald’s and Papa John’s restaurants.

As tech companies come up with incredible ways of paying for stuff, consumers always find it hard to adapt to these new methods, partly because nothing has yet convinced them to move on from paying with plastic. Ideally, I always feel comfortable picking my wallet up and paying for stuff physically. Plastic money allows you to count your money, and it also gives room to throw in a bargain.

In 2011, a similar app to Google’s Hands Free was launched by a payments company Square. The app dubbed Square Wallet allowed a person to pay by just saying his or her name to the cashier. Unfortunately, few retailers joined into the program which resulted to a cut down on the app’s usefulness. Square Wallet was discontinued I 2014.

Cnet reports, Hands Free is separate from Google’s Android Pay mobile payments app. It works by tracking your location using Wi-Fi and other sensors in your smartphone to detect whether you’re near a participating store. After you say “I’ll pay with Google,” the cashier confirms your identity by using your initials and the photo you’ve loaded onto the Hands Free app.

To improve the app’s functionality, Google is experimenting with an in-store camera to verify your identity automatically based on your Hands Free profile picture. Google said images and data from these cameras are deleted immediately and can’t be accessed by the stores.